Report on the Workshop Use and Application of the new CIE s 026/e:2018, Metrology for ipRGC-influenced responses to light “specifying light for its eye-mediated non-visual effects in humans”

In December 2018, the international standard CIE S 026/E:2018 “CIE System for Metrology of Optical Radiation for ipRGC-Influenced Responses to Light” (doi.org/10.25039/S026.2018) was published. This standard defines spectral sensitivity functions, quantities and metrics to describe the ability of optical radiation to stimulate each of the five retinal photoreceptor classes that can contribute, via the melanopsin-containing intrinsically-photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), to the retinally mediated non-visual effects of light in humans. This one-hour workshop started with four 10 minute presentations about the standard, followed by a general discussion and questions. The four presentations focused on the following topics:1) Introduction to CIE S 026 and its quantities (Luc Schlangen)2) Demonstration of toolkit (in preparation) to calculate CIE S 026 quantities (Presented by Luc Schlangen on behalf of Luke Price)3) Accounting for field of view (David Sliney)4) ipRGCs and pupil response (Manuel Spitschan

Blue-enriched Lighting for Older People Living in Care Homes: Effect on Activity, Actigraphic Sleep, Mood and Alertness

Objective: Environmental (little outdoor light; low indoor lighting) and age-related physiological factors (reduced light transmission through the ocular lens, reduced mobility) contribute to a light-deprived environment for older people living in care homes. Methods: This study investigates the effect of increasing indoor light levels with blue-enriched white lighting on objective (rest-activity rhythms, performance) and self-reported (mood, sleep, alertness) measures in older people. Eighty residents (69 female), aged 86 ± 8 yrs (mean ± SD), participated (MMSE 19 ± 6). Overhead fluorescent lighting was installed in communal rooms (n=20) of seven care homes. Four weeks of blue-enriched white lighting (17000 K ≅ 900 lux) were compared with four weeks of control white lighting (4000 K ≅ 200 lux), separated by three weeks wash-out. Participants completed validated mood and sleep questionnaires, psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) and wore activity and light monitors (AWL). Rest-activity rhythms were assessed by cosinor, non-parametric circadian rhythm (NPCRA) and actigraphic sleep analysis. Blue-enriched (17000 K) light increased wake time and activity during sleep decreasing actual sleep time, sleep percentage and sleep efficiency (p < 0.05) (actigraphic sleep). Compared to 4000 K lighting, blue-enriched 17000 K lighting significantly (p < 0.05) advanced the timing of participants’ rest-activity rhythm (cosinor), increased daytime and night-time activity (NPCRA), reduced subjective anxiety (HADA) and sleep quality (PSQI). There was no difference between the two light conditions in daytime alertness and performance (PVT). Conclusion: Blue-enriched lighting produced some positive (increased daytime activity, reduced anxiety) and negative (increased night-time activity, reduced sleep efficiency and quality) effects in older people

CIE Software Check of luox.app

The University of Oxford has developed an open-access software platform known as luox, which incorporates elements of CIE publications for the calculation of certain quantities integrated from spectral data. Under the terms of a licence agreement between the University of Oxford and the CIE, the CIE has agreed to endorse the software following a black-box validation of the software. This is the report of that validation exercise, based on the work of an ad hoc task group of the CIE Board of Administration. The task group selected 43 spectrafrom various sources, 19 being spectra with 5 nm intervals and 24 being spectra with 1 nm intervals, and calculated luminance (illuminance), a-opic radiances (a-opic irradiances), a-opic equivalent daylight luminances (a-opic equivalent daylight illuminances), a-opic efficacies of luminous radiation, and chromaticity coordinates using both luox and a variety of other available reference calculation tools, both public and private. Tolerance intervals were established for each quantity, and the deviation between the test values from luox and thereference values were calculated for each spectrum. The results for all of these evaluations showed consistency between the test values and the reference values. Based on these results, the CIE approves the following statement concerning the luox software, as per the aforementioned licence agreement:“This software incorporates methods, formulae, spectral function calculations and spectra from the International Commission on Illumination (CIE). The CIE endorses this software having made a black-box evaluation of the software as of Feb. 11, 2021, finding that the software performs satisfactorily. This software is not a replacement for the CIE publications and works from which it is derived. The user is advised to consult the original publications and works for proper understanding of and calculation of the result of this software.

CIE Position Statement and video: The Use of Ultraviolet (UV) Radiation to Manage the Risk of COVID-19 Transmission:http://cie.co.at/publications/cie-position-statement-use-ultraviolet-uv-radiation-manage-risk-covid-19-transmission

International interest in the use of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) to manage the risk of COVID-19 transmission is large and growing rapidly with each day of this global pandemic. Because of this CIE has published a Position Statement (PS) following on from the two CIE publications related to UV-C applications that were recently made freely available. Combined these were accessed over 10000 times in the two months from being made available! This new CIE PS summarizes these two publications noted above and gives the most recent insights in this field, to explain the most important aspects around the use of UVR, in particular UV-C (ultraviolet radiation covering the range from 100 nm to 280 nm) to manage and control transmission of this infectious disease.A video to support this PS has been prepared plus some key take-away points from this PS are: UV-C is extremely useful in disinfection of air and surfaces or sterilization of water. However, CIE and WHO warn against the use of UV disinfection lamps to disinfect hands or any other area of skin (WHO, 2020). UV-C can be very hazardous to humans and animals and should only be used in carefully controlled circumstances using well-designed products, ensuring that the limits of exposure as specified in ICNIRP (2004) and IEC/CIE (2006) are not exceeded. However, the risk of skin cancer from devices that emit only UV-C is considered negligible. UV-C can cause photodegradation of materials and this should be considered where susceptible materials, such as plastics, are in the exposed environment. More research is urgently needed on the safety aspects of novel UV-C sources, especially with respect to safety thresholds to avoid photokeratitis (”sunburn” of the cornea). For proper UVR assessment and risk management, appropriate UVR measurements are essential. UV-C products aimed at general consumers may not be safe to use or may not be effective for disinfection.<br/

Toolbox, user guide and video to support the use of the international standard CIE S 026:2018

A Toolbox to support the use of the international standard CIE S 026:2018 CIE System for Metrology of Optical Radiation for ipRGC-Influenced Responses to Light has been developed. A beta version of the Toolbox was shared last year with attendees at the tutorial held on this new system of metrology. After further testing the Toolbox is now avaialbe to support the use of the standard. The S 026 Toolbox and S 026 User Guide are freely available on the CIE Website. A short video has been prepared to give some background information on the Toolbox and some brief instructions on how to use it